https://youtu.be/JmiqM1m71jQ?si=SxJc7SpgbO9dr8u1

La meva #CançóDelDia per al dissabte 27 de gener és aquesta dels #OKGoodnight #Boston #Ruta66 #ElMillorProg23 #Instrumental #ProgRock #ProgMetal 👽!

Sentynel and Twelve’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023

By sentynel

Sentynel

Is it that time already? Whew. 2023 has raced past me, carried by a blizzard of endless Stuff. I need a goddamn break, which is currently tentatively scheduled for about 2025. As a result, I’ve been desperately behind on my listening for most of the year. I barely scraped together five reviews, all for bands I knew and liked, and was impressed by… one of them. I was nervous about my list all the way through to about November. Fortunately, I have once again ended up with a solid list of great albums, though the best doesn’t quite top last year’s The Otolith. I have lost track of what a normal selection looks like for me at this point, but this year’s big genre winner is apparently instrumental prog, while I felt it was a slightly weak year for post-metal. I also suspect I have more overlap with some of the cooler members of staff than I usually do, amongst all the records you already know are going to be on my list.

Despite a heavy year, contributing to Angry Metal Guy dot com continues to be one of my favorite hobbies. The other staff continue to have questionable taste, but I’ve found music that brings me joy anyway. We have new writers, I’ve met a couple of last year’s crop, and they’re all pretty chill despite their opinions on music. Everyone continues to put a huge amount of free work into this weird little corner of the internet. And my server load stats confirm that you, the readers, are still out there, using my bandwidth.

Finally, following Twitter’s ongoing trainwreck killing off the review autoposting there, we are now available on a slightly experimental basis on Mastodon and compatible platforms. Simply follow @angrymetalguy@angrymetalguy.com. (Note that comments don’t sync in from Mastodon, so you’ll still need to come to the site in order to tell us we’re wrong.) Of course, RSS and Facebook continue to be available.

#ish. Angus McSix // Angus McSix and the Sword of Power – I’ll defend last year’s Fellowship record to the death as serious music. The sophistication of its writing and the adulthood of its themes proves that upbeat, catchy power metal doesn’t have to be silly or lightweight. I offer no such defense for this record. This is incredibly silly. Honestly, between the track titles and how nakedly the whole thing leans on Winkler’s previous role, I was expecting to write this off as a failed attempt to recapture past glories without the wit—another soulless, forgettable pop-power metal band going through the motions. And yet it works. The fun feels genuine, the runtime too brief to be self-indulgent, the songwriting too varied to be a lazy cash-in. It’s infectious, it’s miles better than the new Gloryhammer record, and I’ve ended up listening to it a lot. I embrace the upcoming savaging in the comments section.

#10. Nuclear Power Trio // Wet Ass Plutonium – Speaking of silly, it’s the guys in creepy dictator masks. As I said when I wrote about this album, after a great EP they’ve stuck the landing on the album as well, cementing their position as serious musicians and not a one-off novelty. Fun, triumphant, soaring, Wet Ass Plutonium is an absolute blast to listen to. The musicianship is fantastic, and in particular I’ll highlight again just how great Putin is. (On bass.)

#9. Sermon // Of Golden Verse – Starring a rather more seriously masked musician, this is an emotional, gripping prog album. The only thing holding this back from a higher list placing is that I haven’t found myself compelled to listen to it all the time, which is definitely a me problem (see intro). The moment I actually do put it on I’m hooked. The dynamic, catchy songwriting has an urgent edge to it that gets under your skin and sets it apart from a lot of other prog metal, which can lack a bit of bite.  I absolutely love the vocal performance here in particular, but the whole thing is written and performed thoughtfully and impactfully.

#8. Ok Goodnight // The Fox and the Bird – In the best tradition of prog, this is a weird album. It tries to do a lot of things and manages nearly all of them. Williams’ charismatic, mood-changing vocals carry this whimsical tale. The first few times I listened I wasn’t sure it was going to stick, but I kept finding fragments of her lines in my head. With a few more listens, the whole thing settled. There are still a few little stumbles where weird and shifting gives way to just disjointed, but I find the rest of the album far too addictively, earwormily interesting to mind too much.

#7. Scaphoid // Echoes of the Rift – I owe this record more complete thoughts than I have space for here—there’s a TYMHM piece due, but see the intro for why it probably hasn’t appeared yet. In short: I’m a huge fan of this sort of pretty, thoughtful instrumental prog. I loved Absent Passages, and Echoes of the Rift is an improvement in effectively every meaningful way. Hobart has developed as a composer, and as a result it’s shorter, tighter, more varied, and more memorable. As with a lot of music on this list, my love for it is in the mood it conjures. It’s thoughtful, meditative, exploratory, and has been a favorite work and travel soundtrack for me.

#6. Sanguine Glacialis // Maladaptive Daydreaming – This record is A Lot. I mentioned it to Dr. Wvrm, who described it as “like Cradle of Filth bodysnatched Epica, then showed up to the studio and found it double booked with Nik Sundin hanging out with a jazz quartet. And instead of throwing them out being like ‘yea you know what let’s do all of it at once'”. Frankly, I have nothing further to add to this bit of poetry. If this sounds utterly horrifying, you’re not going to like Maladaptive Daydreaming. But if you’re maybe interested, know that it’s way more cohesive than it has any right to be and a lot of fun. The main thing holding it back is an inexplicably loud mastering job.

#5. Night Crowned // Tales – Here’s an interesting study in genre and reviewers’ tastes. Thus, who is far more brvtal than me, describes this as “symphonic/melodic blackened death.” I, meanwhile, relate to this as a folk metal album, though one much more interesting than the genre typically delivers. Just listen to that hurdy-gurdy or the styling of the vocals. (The female vocals really remind me of the Witcher 3 soundtrack’s Eastern European folk, for example. It’s notable that the cover art here features the Wild Hunt.) Either way, Tales is a wild ride and a certified banger through and through.

#4. Fires in the Distance // Air Not Meant for Us – This is so pretty. That seems like an odd thing for melodic death metal to be striving for, but there’s really no other word for it. Soaring guitar melodies, sweeping strings, and airy piano tug at your heartstrings. But a core of heavy riffs and harsh vocals keeps it anchored. The two mesh startlingly well. Fires in the Distance really lean into the lilting piano at times—if you’d told me a band were going to put this much piano into a melodeath record and everyone would love it, I would have laughed at you. You’d think it would sound insubstantial against the rhythm section, but it never does. Genuinely beautiful.

#3. Helga // Wrapped in Mist – This record reminds me of Gåte (who put out a good EP this year!) gone atmospheric, both in the folk composition but also in the slightly unusual vocals. There’s also some hints of Meer. It’s been criticized, not unfairly, for imperfectly mixing its folk takes on post-metal and airy dream-pop. I like both, but the more I listen, the less I think that separation is the right lens to view it through. Both these genres are characterized by a prioritization of atmosphere and feeling over immediacy, and that’s where Wrapped in Mist’s success lies. I’ve spoken before about my love of music that feels like a witches’ forest ritual, and this is the exact button Helga presses for me. Wherever it sits among its contributing genres, it conjures that feeling.

#2. Essence of Datum // Radikal Rats – Wildly underrated by some hack at little-known music blog Angry Metal Guy, “a heavier God is an Astronaut do the Mass Effect soundtrack” is right up my alley. Even then, I’ve been surprised by how much I’ve listened to this album. It’s not the world’s most challenging record, which has probably contributed to me reaching for it so often over a difficult few months. But don’t confuse that with a lack of impact. It’s cleverly written and impeccably performed, catchy, interesting and varied. This would be a fantastic soundtrack to a top-notch sci-fi film. (I listened to it a lot while reading the new Murderbot book.) As I said above, this has been a good year for instrumental prog, and the placement of this record despite two other strong contenders in the genre should speak volumes.

#1. Wayfarer // American Gothic – This one shouldn’t come as a surprise if you read my thoughts on Lathe on last year’s list. I’m a sucker for the micro-genre I’ll call industrial bluegrass, and last year Lathe mixed it with post-metal with unexpectedly successful results. Wayfarer, meanwhile, bring in black metal, a genre I normally find myself bored by. Indeed, A Romance with Violence didn’t quite do it for me. American Gothic though absolutely knocks it out of the park. The genre blend is utterly seamless, to the extent that to simply call it black metal does it a disservice. This is the best of bleak country painted with the instrumentation of black metal. Electric guitars pick up melody lines from banjos with a twang. Distorted slide guitars get that pedal steel feeling. There’s even a honky-tonk piano. It’s all deceptively melodic, and it helps there’s a heavy twist of post here. This seems to have put some members of the staff off—the second half is less immediate than the first—but these people are wrong. The atmosphere that results is pitch-perfect. The vocals and the lyrics are great. This is not an album that I expected, nor did I expect to love it like this. But it shot to the top of my list within the first couple of listens, and I love it a bit more with every spin.

Honorable Mentions

• BRIQUEVILLE // IIII – I saw these guys play at ArcTanGent this year and was dead impressed. This is really slow-burn post, but it’s worth it.
• Mutoid Man // Mutants – Another ATG band, although from many years ago. Not a big departure from their prog/punk usual, but a lot of fun.
• healthyliving // Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief – “Bloom” narrowly missed out on my Song of the Year. The rest of the album is also really good post-metal, with a great vocalist.
• Svalbard // The Weight of the Mask – This didn’t blow me away like When I Die, but it’s not for lack of quality; it’s a great album still, it’s just not a huge evolution.
• Tribunal // The Weight of Remembrance – A really solid bit of classic doom. As with any well-trodden genre it takes a lot to stand out, and Tribunal nail it with some great interplay—on vocals and instruments—between the duo.

Disappointment o’ the Year

Repeatedly giving poor-to-middling reviews to bands I like. Also, the production on that Anareta album, which I wanted so badly to love.

Song o’ the Year

Vienna Teng “The Riversitter” – I’m not even going to pretend to claim that this is metal, though I did of course first hear Teng on this very website. She is my favorite lyricist ever, and one of my favorite musicians in general. It’s been a long ten years since Aims, and it’s fantastic to have new music from her again. This is a pretty, moving piece, based on a short story, about not overthinking or overplanning, community, beauty, and building on each other’s ideas. I can’t fully explain why I’ve been so gripped by this song, but it spoke to me. I’m not normally a “same song on repeat” person, but I’ve listened to this song over three times as often as anything else this year.

Twelve

Up until a few weeks ago, I’d have said this was a pretty solid year, all things considered—but alas, here I am, ending the year on a low note. 2023 felt both very long and very quick, and we weren’t too far into it when I realized my contributions to this here blog were pretty much abysmal. Thankfully, my fellow writers and alternate personas are very understanding people, but it’s still rough to realize that the year has ended to mark my lowest output yet here at Angry Metal Guy.

At least the music was solid. While I was off doing who-knows-what offline, a whole bunch of talented and wonderful writers ghostwrote a whole bunch of compelling reviews and recommendations here that have come to dominate my listening. So before I properly dive into sharing my top albums for 2023, I’ll take a second to thank every one of them, from the newest n00b to the oldest olde, for a level of dedication and talent I just didn’t reach this year. I’m looking forward to the next one, and the one after that as well.

Anyway…

#ish. David Eugene Edwards // Hyacinth – Usually there’s a space or two on this list for the most exciting neofolk that comes my way in a given year, but this year was a quiet one on that front. In its absence, however, the dark country tellings of David Eugene Edwards are quickly becoming a favourite. It’s not a style I’m very familiar with—hence the #ish—but owing to the gorgeously ominous storytelling on Hyacinth, that’s something I’m determined to fix in 2024.

#10. Sacred Outcry // Towers of Gold – Life™ works in mysterious ways; when I was unable to review Towers of Gold following my excitement at Sacred Outcry’s debut, I felt pretty badly. Thankfully, Holdeneye’s account captures what is so special about this power metal odyssey better than I’d have been able to at the time. An adventure for the whole family, and an impressively emotive power metal opus.

#9. Theocracy // Mosaic – Speaking of power metal, I also loved Mosaic in a way I haven’t been taken by a Theocracy album in some time. The balance of joyful and serious themes is something the band does really, really well here, and it’s a splash of positivity that I was happy to receive just as the weather began to turn cold. Not to mention it’s impressively heavy on top of it all, and the choruses stick around long after the album is done.

# 8. The Ocean // Holocene – I’ve said in a couple of places that I don’t care much for post metal, but I do like it when The Ocean does it. The trend continued this year with Holocene, which felt more experimental, less heavy, and altogether weirder than a lot of their past work. This all works great for me, and I found I kept returning to Holocene as the year went by. “Atlantic” in particular may be one of my most listened-to songs for the year. High defeatism, am I right?

#7. Warfarer // American Gothic – Blistering, beautiful black metal; a heartfelt reason for the anger; influence from the wild, wild West to keep it all fresh. What could there possibly be to not like about American Gothic? In the past, Wayfarer haven’t quite captured my attention, but this album broke through my resistance and pummelled it to the ground within the first four seconds of “The Thousand Tombs of Western Promise.” A phenomenal album, through and through.

#6. Briqueville // IIII – IIII is not an album I expected to list here; in fact, one of the first things I did when I saw Charcharodon’s 4.0 review for it was ignore it. More fool I. I thought I had this list down when I finally spun Briqueville’s latest for the first time and it tore its way up these IIII spaces astonishingly fast. Dreamy, experimental doom atmospheres are not easy to pin down, but the songwriting here is incredible. The time passes so quickly, and then what’s left to do but to spin the whole album over again?

#5. Godthrymm // Distortions – Rounding out the other half of my top doom metal albums of the year is Distortions, essentially because this album is heavy. I love the straightforward style, the well-produced misery, and the way Godthrymm is able to so cleanly convey such powerful emotions. This album is a testament to doom metal done well, and it’s been a welcome companion since the first time I heard it—I was hooked pretty much instantly.

#4. Burden of Ymir // Heorot – If you read my reviews, you already know that the accordion is the way into my heart. This feast of black metal incorporates exactly that, and makes for a heavy, folky journey, an amazing album with a story to tell and a ton of heart. It’s also a sneaky album, the kind that grows on you the more you listen to it, with small details hidden in clever songwriting. It’s hard to ask for more; this is an album that feels made exactly for me.

#3. Angus McSix // Angus McSix and the Sword of Power – Speaking of albums that feel made exactly for me, Angus McSix is some of the most fun you can have listening to power metal. I am a sucker for cheesiness, and Angus McSix’s debut dials the cheese factor up to the maximum. The other, crucial side of the dial, however, is the songwriting. Thanks to that, everything works in a way that makes the album more than the sum of it’s ridiculous concept1. It’s a very strong album, and one that’s only grown on me with time.

#2. Sodomisery // Mazzaroth – I can only imagine that Dr. A. N. Grier and I have dramatically different year-end lists, but his review of Mazzaroth is spot-on, and I’m certain we’ll share this entry. As orchestral black metal goes, this album is grand, heavy, and huge, making for a phenomenal opus that is my top black metal album of the year. The vocal performance, the orchestrations, the songwriting—everything on Mazzaroth is top-tier, larger-than-life, incredible black metal.

#1. Vanishing Kids // Miracle of Death – It will be difficult to sum up my appreciation for Miracle of Death in the short blurb I have before me. From the first seconds of “Spill the Dark,” this album takes me to a cold, comfortable place. It’s emotional, but it feels like numbness; it’s quiet, but leaves a huge impression. Everything about this album works to create atmospheres of bleakness and hopelessness, and any time I’ve felt low throughout the year, Vanishing Kids has been there2. Miracle of Death is, in that regard, an amazing album, and one that was always going to take this spot on my list. Truthfully, I’m shocked to realize this only came out a couple of months ago—it’s been so right for my 2023 that it feels like it’s been there since January 1.

Honorable Mention

• Suotana // Ounas I – I had a lot of fun reviewing Ounas I, and have had a lot of fun listening to it since. The black/melodeath/power metal thing Suotana does so well lends itself to an extremely fun, energetic album that is just so solid. This is an album done well, and I’m still recommending it to pretty much all of you!

Song o’ the Year

Sometimes, you just need to have some fun. No matter how difficult, irritating, or otherwise negative this year may have been, “Ride to Hell” has been the pick-me-up song to deal with it. This is a terrific power-meets-traditional metal anthem, and the enthusiasm in which Angus McSix performs it is a huge part of the appeal. It’s catchy, it’s fun, it’s wildly addictive—it’s everything you need when times are rough and you don’t know any supernatural motorcyclists in the real world. It’s also a great song when you’re having a good day already and want to make it better.

#2023 #AngusMcSix #BlogPost #Briqueville #BurdenOfYmir #DavidEugeneEdwards #EssenceOfDatum #FiresInTheDistance #Godthrymm #healthyliving #Helga #Lists #Listurnalia #MutoidMan #NightCrowned #OkGoodnight #SacredOutcry #SanguineGlacialis #Scaphoid #SentynelSAndTwelveSTopTenIshOf2023 #Sermon #Sodomisery #Suotana #Svalbard #TheOcean #TheOtolith #Theocracy #Tribunal #VanishingKids #ViennaTeng #Wayfarer

Dolphin Whisperer’s and Ferox’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023

By Dolphin Whisperer

Dolphin Whisperer

I don’t remember anymore exactly when or how I stumbled upon Angry Metal Guy, but I know that I’ve been reading the site for fourteen years now. In that time I’ve gone from barely a student to a working professional who routinely feels the drain of a society sinking around him. But it’s ok because along the way I managed to find a partner who loves me for all my flaws and quirks (or at least that’s what she tells me).1 She wasn’t always there, though, nor was the comfort that we’ve built into our life. When she wasn’t there, and when human company could not provide for whatever reason, both Angry Metal Guy and the music world at large always existed to evolve around me and shine a path to work that saw where I was and reflected my pain. Or my happiness. Or the existential dread of another day. Or just comforted me with a warm bowl of guitar noodles with a side of riff salad.

You may not have seen my words pop around much over that time, but rest assured, I was there like all of you now, reading as AMG the Man validated my feelings or presented admiration for an idol I don’t worship or killed my darlings with questionable opinions. I was there when Steel was the new Ape on the block. I developed a taste for the cast who I agreed with most and scanned with ravenous eyes for the next 0.5 or 1.0 to watch a train wreck meet a car crash. I watched this community who knew nothing of me stand up for important and meaningful things all while staying steadfast to the goal of simply reviewing metal in all its glory.2 Then one day I decided to join the Discord group that had been advertising itself at the bottom of every article for I don’t know how long before I noticed. And in that feverish chatterbox of swirling opinions, I realized that this community meant so much to me that I wanted to give it a go behind the curtains.

I made friends—friends surrounding music whether I agree with them or not. That’s what it means to love music in my mind. Hate and love both ignite passion, and passion is what squirms the happy juice in our brains. I’m sure you, dear reader, will have thoughts about the below choices. And know that you are more than welcome to voice them in any way you see fit. Go ahead, recommend me something while you’re at it. If you do agree with these opinions, also know, then that you can click through to any of the associated reviews, Bandcamp pages, label links—any way that you can reward the artist with your hard-earned currency, if you’re able. Because remember, it’s people like you and me (nerds) who keep this silly business of music alive. Did you know you can click those links? On my reviews, on my buddy Ferox‘s reviews. Even on reviews that you don’t agree with! So read something, click something, support something, tell a friend, tell a partner… or just take whatever knowledge you gain and listen to some good music. If you continue reading, you will encounter my recommendations to fill that void of good music in your life. Above (or below, whatever the Editing Gods decide) Ferox has some recommendations for you too. Know that these two sets are the best recommendations you will receive this year. Live loudly, listen responsibly.3

#ish. Anareta // Fear Not – In a year with less to love, Fear Not could have placed higher, but the riches across different facets of my listening pleasures spilled forth in almost every possible way. Alas, this unique act couldn’t have come further out of left field when promos began to trickle in for 2023, and Anareta’s delicate precision with weeping string melodies against their brutish incisions of blood-curdling shrieks struck the tucked-away Grayceon bone in my body. Alongside up-and-coming act Exulansis out of Oregon, there’s a promising wave of chamber-informed bands growing in the wilds of niche-loving minds. As they say, it only takes two to tango…though “Omnicide” feels a little more like a foxtrot, right?

#10. Tongues // Forml​ø​se Stjerner – That I managed to cobble together words that described the mysterious air that surrounds this album baffles me. Countless listens later, I still get lost in the swaying vibrations of the tricky whammy-addled leads and layers of reverb decaying over a vast landscape. And even though all these forward choices usually spell a path down the intangible and incoherent, a lurking melody and grounded rhythmic performance seals the hypnotism that would feel just out of reach with a lesser performance. Your mind knows that each tone source here found its way to the recording behind closed doors, but the energy that emits throughout Forml​ø​se Stjerner casts like a sonic beacon through the dreariest of nights on the open, foggy sea.

#9. Vanishing Kids // Miracle of Death – The kids are gone!!! I wasn’t particularly a fan of their previous release so that Miracle of Death hooked me was a small miracle all in itself. I’m no stranger to enjoying shoegaze-y things, psych-rock-laden things, sinfully synthful things—the airy 60s era croons and shimmering Hammond shudders throughout this give me all kinds of shoulder-relaxing, neck-tingling goodies. You think that’d remind me of someone like The Mamas & the Papas, but my mind drifts toward the episodic, warble-clipped daze of the Cunninglynguists classic Oneirology. Funny how the mind works, innit? Regardless, the sheer beauty of sound on display throughout Miracle of Death is impossible for my sugar-starved brain to ignore. Vibe with me.

#8. Slumbering Sun // The Ever-Living Fire – I know the Rodeö entries provide a healthy serving of less-than-desirable releases, but if you’re skipping them entirely then maybe you missed Slumbering Sun when they dropped their debut LP, The Ever-Living Fire way back in February. You see, one of the reasons I’ve helped fuel the Rodeö is that bands like Slumbering Sun still exist out there, under the radar, largely unpromoted, with gem ideas. Leaning on the modern sadperson melodic doom angle pioneered by an early Pallbearer, this Texas troupe delivered a longing yet hopeful collection of tunes that never fails to stir the slow burn of teary-eyed smiles in my heart. If Patrick Walker (Warning) were younger when he found peace, perhaps 40 Watt Sun would have gone this direction.

#7. Jarhead Fertilizer // Carceral Warfare – I didn’t even think I was getting a Jarhead release this year, but the death metal overlords decided that 2023 hadn’t quite graced me yet with this extremely specific kind of deranged, violent, feral death metal that I crave. Samples and segues function like dim lights in a dive bar, masking the filth strewn about while the seedy world around you builds its slow assault on your senses. Carceral Warfare stinks, its riffs carved in cracked and corroded skin. There’s nothing acute about injuries that Jarhead seeks to afflict—the wounds Carceral Warfare doles out aim to fester and brim black with incurable disease.

#6. Gridlink // Coronet Juniper – I never expected my favorite power metal album of the year to be a grindcore album. Gridlink’s take on the punk specialty has always been a bit different though. Always fast, always pushing the treble ceiling, and always leading with melodies that don’t quit, Coronet Juniper highlights all the strengths that this outfit has always promised. As their last album, it functions as a tribute to themselves—their collective passions executed at ridiculous speeds and unadvisable levels of throat punishment. It may not be as groundbreaking as what came before it, but when you’re ten steps ahead of the pack, you can settle to simply show ’em how it’s done. And I got to use Gundam clips in the review. Win-Win.

#5. Wormhole // Almost Human – The formatting will get all weird if I only scream WOOOOOOOOOOOORMMMMMMMMM-HOOOOOOOLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEE like I want to, so here’s more. Ken and I don’t often end up hole-to-hole on an album, but when we do, you better bet that it’s great. When all that was out for Almost Human was the singles, I repeatedly binged those first two tracks as if they were a whole album to themselves. And that’s the magic of this bright and horrifying slamfest. It’s shiny, it’s punishing, and, most importantly, it’s relentless in worming its way into my gaping sound receptors.

#4. Anachronism // Meanders – I’ve been listening to this all damn year at this point. I was late to the Anachronism party with Orogeny, but not so with Meanders. Its uncanny ease in mood and brevity in run hold an important home in contrast to its finger-testing technicality and unparalleled rhythmic brutality. A natural but still unexpected successor to the post-tinged, brooding brutality that showed itself in flashes, Meanders rains textural and colorful in ways that other death metal simply doesn’t—all while still staying death metal. Oh, and Lisa Voisard has a piercing shriek to go with her scruffy bellow. Who would’ve guessed?

#3. healthyliving // Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief – I knew how much I loved this album before I realized it. When it dropped, I told all the writers, “I think I have my first TYMHM y’all.” But then I went and filtered it, which is no dishonor but doesn’t quite capture the intensity of what healthyliving has to offer on this debut outing. Building tension through an eclectic array of jangling chords and understated rhythms, the supporting cast sets the perfect stage for vocalist Amaya Lopez-Carramerro to absolutely shred with fearless virtuosic wail. Or she’ll sit back and set a slow burn with a restrained and emotive croon. Can I call her my favorite vocalist in metal right now? Is this even metal? Maybe. But I couldn’t care less. It’s damn good.

#2. KEN mode // VOID – NULL ended up on my top ten last year, and with the consistency that these angry Canadians provide, enjoying VOID came naturally, disarmingly so. What I didn’t expect, however, was that this act known for being noisy and rambunctious and pulverizing would be able to dial back the melancholy of previous works with an additional varnish of lived-in depression. A partner to what came before it, VOID captures the last spat of mania before an extended comedown and the dragging sorrow that follows. And yet somehow, though it hurts almost every step of the way, I feel just a little bit lighter after every listen. Get over yourself and listen if you haven’t bothered yet, if only for the buzzing synths and buttery, booming bass tones.

#1. Vvon Dogma I // The Kvlt of Glitch – You, the commentariat, had plenty to say about this album when it dropped. “I tried… No thanks.” — “I’m voting Dolphin Whisperer off the island. This is crap.” — “What the actual fuck?” All choice examples. Some of you also decided to write this off because of the AI-base of the cover art despite the artists involved self-funding this whole exploration and fully crediting the digital assistance. Your asceticism will go unrewarded. This is a humble reminder that you, the commentariat, do not influence my complete and utter enjoyment of this mad pairing of cyberpunk industrial, fanned-fret progressive, angelic electronic piece of edge-skirting metal. The spirit of adventure that graces every phrase throughout the Kvlt of Glitch stimulates the thrill-seeker, the floating spirit, the head-banging hooligan in me all at once, while lathering me with a fresh sense of dread for a technology-warped future. Maybe you never liked Genghis Tron before they disbanded after Board Up the House. Maybe you never liked Unexpect when they graced us with album after album of shrill and unfathomably progressive fantasy. Maybe you’ve got a shallow throat for multi-layered, programmed voices that fizzle the ears with rich harmony. But The Kvlt of Glitch is willing to welcome you whenever you choose to accept its power. I am God now!4

Honorable Mentions:

• World’s End Girlfriend // Resistance & The Blessing – WEG possesses the esoteric ability to manipulate time with beauty. Resistance & The Blessing continues to unravel itself before me as I tackle it as a whole, in chunks, in the narratives it allows you to build with each of its whispered ideas. Sadness, happiness, anger, frustration, longing, acceptance—this monumental offering has it all. I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s a lot to take in. But I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t love it.
• Angra // Cycles of Pain – What can I say, I love Angra. The Lione era is developing a thing for long albums, but at least it’s all good.
• Autarkh // Emergent – An album that loops with glitchy industrial and ethereal post-metal as well as this one does is dangerous. You could do a lot worse than hearing this three times in a row though.
• Aphotic // Abyssgazer – Blackened deathdoom? Funeral-tinged ritualistic black metal? Whatever you want to call this, there’s an alternate timeline where it’s on the list proper. It just goes.
• Horrendous // Ontological Mysterium – Progressive death metal ear candy. I could probably listen to this album all damn day if the last song didn’t dampen the mood a little.
• Pupil Slicer // Blossom – Metalcore with nu-metal tropes shouldn’t be as fun as this or the new Mouthbreather album, but those industrial grooves keep on giving. Start the album with the title track for an even better listen.
• Ok Goodnight // The Fox and the Bird – I take some issue with the proggy detours in this album, but its storybook charm holds more endearing than all of that.
• Maud the Moth + trajedesaliva // Bordando el manto terrestre – Chill-out album of the year. Meditate, read, relax… or just listen to the sultry whispers with your eyes closed. They tickle.

Disappointments o’ the Year:

Soen // Imperial Memorial – Let me level with you, Lotus is a fantastic album and the pinnacle of a career for Soen, a band that has grown further away from the flourishes that make their music interesting. Lush production? Humming Hammond overlays? Joel Ekelöf spreading sweet nothings over the course of an urgent and chunky build? Who needs any of that when you can write worse choruses over the same riff and people continue to latch onto it. Soen almost remembers their strengths (“Fortress,”5 “Tragedian,” “Vitals”), and it is admirable that Ekelöf tries to stretch his wings as a grittier vocalist while maintaining his Eurovision aspirations. But with a direction that’s even less dynamic than the uncharacteristically narrow master that Memorial shows, I’ve got little to reason believe that this is a direction that Soen should continue. Not good. Not good at all.

Einar Solberg // 16 – After Aphelion wiped away the hope I had left for Leprous, I looked to this solo outing from Mr. Solberg as a chance for him to find a way back to a good tune. It seems that it did help him reclaim a somber and less ahhAAAahhAAAaahaah character to his voice, and drummer Keli Guðjónsson (Agent Fresco, notable Leprous-like act) really helps a few bright moments shine (“Remember Me,” “Blue Light”). However, Solberg did not have to take his play at Jamiroquai (“Home”) nor include a guest rapper (also “Home”) nor include his sister (for what effect on “Where All the Twigs Broke”) nor include his brother-in-law for a growled guest spot on a trip-hoppy track (that’s Ihsahn on “Splitting the Soul”) nor give us seventy minutes of whatever you want to wrap this up as. Sadboi art pop perhaps? Skippable in any case.

Best Thing I Missed in 2022:

Polterguts // Gods Over Broken People – I haven’t heard an album this seriously fucking pissed off since Admiral Angry’s Buster, but the level of frustration here rings just a touch less sexual and frustrated—it’s defeated. The malaise that Gods captures renders itself in lyrics that spout from a voice fed on apathy and gravel: “I used to pray for my friends/I used to hurt when they hurt/I used to love without expecting any love in return” (“Skullbowl”), “I like it here at the bottom where they know me by name/I used to think I wanted out, but now I’m begging to stay” (“Buckle the Spine”), “I’m not strong enough to hold it together, but It breaks my heart to watch you struggle for air/I’m sorry I couldn’t get both of us out, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t there” (“Injury”). As harrowing as that is to read, it’s even more brutal to hear. And I suspect for those stuck in the same kind of recursive, small-town Midwest drain from which this attitude grows, this would hit even harder. One part Meshuggah, one part Chat Pile, and another part its own punished deathcore, Polterguts holds in one hand my aching heart and in another its own, stained and hollow.

Songs o’ the Year:

Why give you one when I can give you twenty-seven? Why twenty-seven? That’s my secret. Now, I’ve talked enough, go out there and enjoy some music, friends. And enjoy this photo of my dogs.

Kiwi (top) and Coconut (bottom).

Ferox

I got my own big boy list! AMG Industries: where doing an adequate job on the free work you’ve been assigned leads to opportunities for more free work. I wouldn’t have it any other way–I love this place, even if the prospect of making this list fills me with anxiety and imposter syndrome. I am generally not given to best-of lists, or year-end reflection. But we’ve got a fake job to do, so let’s get stuck in!

2023 was a weird one. It began with a case of long-ish Covid that saw me coughing uncontrollably every time I laughed, segued into a writer’s strike that shut down my industry for six months, and ended with a faint and collision between the Ferox noggin and a concrete floor. That last one put me in bed recovering for the better part of a month and seriously fucked with my workout goals. Despite all this, it was an incredible year! My family flourished, I snuck a couple of projects into production at my day job, and I had a blast writing here as much as I could. The only complaint I could possibly muster is that it’s all flying past way too quickly.

As for AMG… this is that rare place that improves the lives of all who touch it (Rodeö bands excepted). It did that for me when I lurked as a reader, and it continues to do so now that I cling to a staff position. How does a place this positive place exist? On the internet?! I’m grateful to Steel for providing real leadership at my fake job, to my fellow members of the AMG Class of ’21 for being good eggs and excellent writers, and to everyone I’ve met through a gig that makes life richer and more fun. Maybe the real 2023 was the bollocks we talked along the way.

#ish. Spirit Possession // Of the Sign… – Do you guys like Nifelheim? I sure as heckfire do, and this album that captures some of their defiant spirit stole my heart in the waning moments of 2023. The reprobates of Nifelheim aren’t the only point of departure here. Portland’s Spirit Possession is a borderline tribcore act that aims to capture the feel of an era more than the work of one particular band. Here you’ll find echoes of Bathory, Hellhammer, and Venom. Sometimes a project like this works so well that the music transcends the lack of originality baked into these sorts of things. Of the Sign… is one such album; it may well have landed in my top ten if I had had more time with it before Listurnalia.

#10. Horrendous // Ontological Mysterium – Horrendous, already on a very short list of the best metal bands so far this century, bolsters their legacy with the concise and intoxicating Ontological Mysterium. The quartet has carved out a take on progressive death metal that is entirely their own, one that is melodic, wonky, and sweeping all at once. They’ve never been more engaging than they are on Ontological Mysterium. The album wends its way through nine tracks in less than forty minutes–Ontological Mysterium defies its run time by taking you on a journey that feels epic, but releases you before fatigue sets in. Only closer “The Death Knell Ringeth,” an inexplicable dud that can scarcely walk and chew gum at the same time, keeps Ontological Mysterium from ascending to loftier heights.

#9. Wormhole // Almost Human – Wormhole’s take on brutal death metal is at once savage but cheerful, and stöopid without being remotely dumb. I am fully on board with any band that uses the low art of the slample to describe their own sound, as Wormhole does with a sunny interjection of “Tech Slam!” on the title track of their latest. The AMG staff would have you believe that it’s necessary to choose between Wormhole and Afterbirth, the band’s peer in innovative and excellent brutal death metal. That is nonsense; appreciate the Slam-aissance in all its glory, as these two remarkable outfits elevate one of metal’s least-loved subgenres to new heights.

#8. Sodomisery // Mazzaroth – Sodomisery makes life hard on themselves with an atrocious name that is way too persnickety about the respectable pursuit of sodomy. Some folks just need to play the game on difficult mode, I guess. If the hideous moniker is what it takes to spur Sodomisery to this kind of work, then the outfit should keep indulging themselves. Mazzaroth is an endlessly replayable slab of genre-bending excellence. Symphonic flourishes and well-placed clean vocals accent the band’s hybrid of black metal, death metal, and melodeath. Mazzaroth is big fun, an album that effortlessly synthesizes a cornucopia of influences into something that feels both classic and new.

#7. Xoth // Exogalactic – A late-in-the-game remaster unleashed the power of a fully operational Exogalactic. The album finds the pan-genre madlads of Xoth playing in the margins, expanding their sound here and there while defending their Party Lovecraft turf. Across eight engaging tracks, the excellent songwriting of Exogalactic is augmented by audacious technical what-the-fuck-ery. The album’s forty minutes fly past, and while Xoth’s sound might not be the revelation it was on Invasion of the Tentacube and Interdimensional Invocations, this Seattle quartet remains very much on top of their game. Play a song, any song, and joy will invade your earholes. That’s the Xoth promise, and Exogalactic delivers.

#6. Gridlink // Coronet Juniper – I could go on about the pleasures of Coronet Juniper, but chances are Dolphin Whisperer already has you cornered and is doing just that. My list buddy extolled the virtues of this grind funhouse to the point where I finally just pretended he was saying “BREEEEEEEEEEEEE” and tuned him out. Then I played the album a month or so later in the gym, and Gridlink rocketed me to a dimension of pure fun. Coronet Juniper is a grind joyride, so confident in its songwriting that the band includes a run of instrumental “karaoke versions” at the end of the album that is every bit as playable as the so-called official tracklist.

#5. Outer Heaven // Infinite Psychic Depths – Outer Heaven understands both the virtues and the confines of old-school death metal. Infinite Psychic Depths gives the subgenre a glow-up by taking us on a tour of everything that still works, while adding a few new wrinkles. The album never plays as mere pastiche; like some kind of Quentin Tarantino of death metal, Outer Heaven refreshes old tropes by building something new from a pile of familiar elements. I haven’t dug much into the high concept that underlies Infinite Psychic Depths, but that’s because I don’t need to. The music stands on its own. Already a highlight of 2023, Infinite Psychic Depths feels like one that could grow in esteem with time. It could well be underrated in my fifth slot.

#4. Tribunal // The Weight of Remembrance – Here’s one that roared out of the gate back in January and absolutely refused to cede any ground. The Weight of Remembrance runs classic doom through both an orchestral and a death metal filter. The various genre flourishes enhance the strong songwriting–“Of Creeping Moss and Crumbling Stone” is so incredible that it became a workout staple despite its plodding pace, and nearly earned a spot on this year’s Heavy Moves Heavy playlist. The highlights don’t stop there. They don’t stop until The Weight of Remembrance has run its course. The Debut o’ The Year also happens to be one of the very best albums of 2023.

#3. Warcrab // The Howling Silence – Warcrab boasts fighting spirit, sharp claws, and a crustacean shell that’s fitted for turret combat. They’re obviously game for a scrap, but–as Cherd pointed out in his review–the band doesn’t have much competition in their death-sludge niche. A relief, then, that Warcrab is anything but complacent on The Howling Silence. These seven tracks roar past, the stifling atmosphere pierced on occasion by icepick solos that showcase the Guitar Tone o’ The Year. This one was a grower for me. The Howling Silence initially did little to distinguish itself from previous slab Damned in Endless Night. But my lizard brain heard layers that my ears weren’t processing, and the album kept earning spins. Layers of excellence kept revealing themselves, and before I knew it this piece of heavy artillery blasted its way to the upper echelons of my list.

#2. Carnosus // Visions of Infinihility – This rollicking slab of tech death earned a 4.0 from me back in early February, and I do believe I sold these Swedes short by half a point. Visions of Infinihility was a mainstay of my 2023. The album remained close at hand throughout both a long strike and a stretch of vertigo-induced bedrest. If I’m not tired of it yet, I probably never will be. And what’s not to like here? Every one of the nine tracks on Visions of Infinihility stands up to heavy listening. The site’s top writer summed it up most precisely: “It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing four thousand dollar headphones or a bullet belt–Visions of Infinihility should appeal to wonks, diehards, and metalheads all across the spectrum.”

#1. Afterbirth // In But Not Of – Long Island’s Afterbirth crams an abundance of riches into a brutal death metal album that twists and transmutes as it goes. The first half of In But Not Of stays planted in the brutal death genre that Afterbirth had a hand in creating. The second departs for distant parsecs, fusing elements of post-metal, alt-rock, and even ambient music onto death metal songs. The experiments work seamlessly, and I continue to find surprises almost every time I revisit In But Not Of. “Devils With Dead Eyes,” “Autoerotic Amputation,” “In But Not Of,” and “Angels Feast on Flies” are the standout tracks–any one of the four could credibly lay claim to Song o’ The Year. Colin Marston’s production showcases and elevates the material. My favorite critic said it best: “This is music to concuss you and then heal your battered brain… [In But Of] is an album to savor and return to again and again, a companion piece to Four Dimensional Flesh that manages to equal if not surpass its predecessor.” Also: revel in that gorgeous album art by Alex Eckman-Lawn, a sci-fi Frankenstein’s monster that perfectly encapsulates the record. My top score of 2023 is an easy choice for Ferox‘s Album o’ The Year.

Honorable Mentions

• • Autopsy // Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts– Ashes, Organs, Blood, and Crypts plays like Autopsy’s Basement Tapes, a collection of feral death metal songs that also somehow comes off as loose and ramshackle. It stands among the band’s best post-comeback work.
  • Gorod // The Orb – The French masters of tech death hold serve with the predictably excellent The Orb.
  • Convocation // No Dawn for the Caliginous Night – I came up with the genre tag “funereal doom” to describe Convocation’s latest to myself. The band accesses the majesty of funeral doom without the tedious repetition. It’s a potent approach that’s been honed to near-perfection on No Dawn for the Caliginous Night.
  • Tomb Mold // The Enduring Spirit – The Toronto outfit pulled off a tricky shift, surprising fans of their inventive take on old-school death with this proggy slab. I sure wouldn’t have minded another Planetary Clairvoyance, but I wound up thrilled by this new direction.
  • Serpent Corpse // Blood Sabbath – 2023 delivered an abundance of old-school death delights, but Montreal’s Serpent Corpse move to the head of the class with debut Blood Sabbath.
  • Fabricant // Drudge to the Thicket – A trio of virtuoso musicians keep their debut album juuust barely on the “death metal” side of the prog-death divide. Drudge to the Thicket is a load of unpredictable fun from an immensely promising outfit.
  • Omnicidal // The Omnicidalist – Omnicidal takes a huge leap forward with a sophomore album that injects hints of melodeath and black thrash into an already nasty cocktail. In spite of Gardenstale‘s rave, this excellent effort seemed to get lost in the 2023 shuffle. I kept it spinning all year.
  • Gravesend // Gowanus Death Stomp – This second offering of urban nightmare deathgrind from Gravesend improves on Methods of Human Disposal. An album that conjures genuinely unsettling images and one that will leave its boot marks all over your body,
  • Dripping Decay // Festering Grotesqueries— Another exceptional death metal debut, Festering Grotesqueries inspired an epic run of putrid imagery in Steel‘s review. These Portland knuckle-draggers are worthy of all the filthy poetry the Apeman can muster.

Song o’ the Year: Afterbirth – “In But Not Of”

Disappointment o’ the Year

• Immortal // War Against All – After the improbably incredible Northern Chaos Gods, I was PUMPED for Immortal’s Second Coming of Demonaz Era. Cue the record scratch, because the follow-up is generic and pretty much just sucks through and through.

#2023 #Afterbirth #Anachronism #Anareta #Angra #Aphotic #Autarkh #Autopsy #BlogPost #Carnosus #Convocation #DolphinWhispererSAndFeroxSTopTenIshOf2023 #DrippingDecay #EinarSolberg #Fabricant #Gorod #Gravesend #Gridlink #healthyliving #Horrendous #Immortal #JarheadFertilizer #KENMode #Lists #Listurnalia #MaudTheMothTrajedesaliva #OkGoodnight #Omnicidal #OuterHeaven #Polterguts #PupilSlicer #SerpentCorpse #SlumberingSun #Sodomisery #Soen #SpiritPossession #TombMold #Tongues #Tribunal #VanishingKids #VvonDogmaI #Warcrab #WorldSEndGirlfriend #Wormhole #Xoth

I don't know what I expected from this album but what I found was so much better than I'd anticipated. I'm going to need to listen to this many more times to fully appreciate the story being told by this sublime folk prog metal mix.

#OkGoodnight #TheFoxAndTheBird #Metal #ProgRock #ProgMetal #Prog #Music #MusicMastodon